Sachaa Pyar
by Rekall
Summary: Every 500 years is demon mating season and cat demon Yami has his sights set on the demon hunter Seto Kaiba to be his mate. [SetoYami]
1. Mating Season

**A/N - **Thank you **Dragon** for first giving me this idea and **Pysche** for editing it for me.

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The forest was quiet as the Demon Hunter Seto Kaiba walked along the worn path. Soft black clothing adorned Seto's body. A sword and dagger were attached to a belt around the hunter's waist. On his back was a white cape made out of a mysterious material that protected the hunter through harsh conditions and kept it looking like new. On top of the cape was a quiver full of arrows, and in his hands was the matching bow with an arrow cocked and ready to fire.

Upon the hunter's shoulders slept a black cat, its tail curled around Seto's neck. The only article that cat wore was a red ribbon around his neck with a bell attached to it. At first the ribbon and bell greatly annoyed the cat, but it was the only way to distinguish the cat from all the wild ones that roamed the area.

Crouching down next to a pool of blood, Seto turned his head slightly so he could talk to the cat on his shoulders. "Looks like our friend came this way, Yami."

With a lazy yawn the cat, Yami, stood and jumped off of Seto's shoulders. Purring, Yami rubbed his head against Seto's leg while the hunter tilted his head upwards to he could look in the trees. Sure enough, he spotted the gray furry body of the squirrel they had been hunting with yellow glowing eyes. Clutched in the squirrel's paws was the dead body of a brown rabbit. The rabbit's blood dripped down from the tree as the demon squirrel fed off its corpse.

Aiming the bow and arrow, Seto growled when he saw that he did not have a clear shot at the squirrel thanks to all the leaves. "Yami?"

With a nod of his furry black head, Yami leapt at the massive trunk of the tree, transforming into a black leopard in the process. As the leopard bounded up the tree, the squirrel jumped over to the next tree. Yami however would not give up as he gave chase, transforming between a housecat and a leopard as he skillfully made his way through the trees, following the squirrel.

"For a demon hunter you sure keep interesting company." Jumping to his feet, Seto placed a hand on the hilt of his sword as he spun around to face the owner of the voice. Leaning up against a tree with his arms crossed over his chest, Seto found a white-haired fire demon.

"Bakura," Seto softly growled. The fire demon was known extremely well to the hunter and his cat partner. Bakura was Yami's ex-best friend and had been out for revenge ever since the cat demon tried to kill him. "I suppose you're the one responsible for the animals in this forest becoming creatures."

"Now you're jumping to conclusions Hunter," Bakura replied with a smirk upon his face. "I would have thought by now you'd know all my powers and turning furry little animals into demons isn't one of them. I was merely passing through when I bumped into you."

"I highly doubt that. Even if you aren't responsible for this, I know you're up to no good."

"It's true." Pushing off against the tree, Bakura strolled over to Seto. "Like all demons I've been on the move lately."

"And why is that?" Seto eyed the white haired demon, all the while keeping one hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it if necessary.

"You don't know?" Bakura asked with mock amusement in his voice. Getting closer to Seto, Bakura began whispering in his ear. "Every 500 years is demon mating season. That's when we can take a human mate and turn them into one of us. 500 years is up in two months."

With a satisfied smirk Bakura backed away putting some distance between himself and the demon hunter. "I'm surprised your pet failed to mention this to you. He obviously knows; we all know. Had it not occur to you that there was a reason for all the demon movement lately? Let me guess…Kitten has been hanging out in his human form more than normal lately…it's because we're all searching for the one to call our own; it's in our nature. But perhaps your pet already found the one he's searching for. Maybe that's why he isn't concerned with looking like the rest of us?"

"What are you implying?" Seto spat.

"Makes you wonder what is going on in his little kitty brain doesn't it?" Bakura replied, happy to have hit a nerve with the demon hunter. "By the way, the demon you're looking for that has been turning animals into creatures is called Marik. Although he looks like an adult he's rather young in demon years. He's playing, not trying to cause any real harm."

A wall of flames flew up from the ground surrounding the white haired demon. Just as quick, the flames disappeared back into the earth; but Bakura was already gone.

Moments later Seto heard the dinging of a bell and soon the black leopard came bounding back in view, running along the ground with the dead squirrel in his mouth. Dropping the squirrel at Seto's feet, the panther transformed back into a housecat and rubbed his head against Seto's leg.

"Good job," Seto quietly murmured as he stepped away and turned away from the cat.

"Seto, what is wrong?" Turning back around, instead of finding the black house cat Seto found a short human with tri-colored spiky hair, dressed entirely in black leather and a black cape around his shoulders. The red ribbon with bell attached to it remained around the human's neck and concerned crimson eyes stared at Seto, demanding to know what was wrong.

"Bakura was here; that's all," Seto replied as he nodded his head towards the burnt circle of grass where Bakura had used his fire-traveling trick.

"So?" Yami asked as he crouched down next to the burnt grass to examine it. He then cocked his head to look back up at his human partner. "Bakura hasn't had this kind of effect on you before."

"He's up to no good," Seto quietly murmured. Turning his head away from Yami, Seto looked down the path they had been traveling on. "There's a village near here. I think Bakura was probably headed that way."

"Unless he was heading the direction we came from."

"He came up behind me though, that means he was going in the same direction as us."

"Makes sense," Yami replied while shrugging his small shoulders. As Seto began walking down the path, Yami hurried to catch up with him. "Hey wait up! My legs aren't as long as yours!"

"You mean you're not transforming?" As the pair walked side bye side, Seto glanced sharply at Yami before turning his attention back to where they were going.

"Why should I?" Yami asked, shooting Seto a concerned look. "You know I spent most of my life as a human before I left my village."

"That was 3000 years ago; we've known each other for a year and normally you travel in your cat form until recently."

"Well…we've been traveling a lot more lately because of all the demon movement. I figured you might want some humanoid company for a while."

The pair fell into silence as they continued to walk along the path. Every so often, Seto would glance in the cat demon's direction as he became lost in his thoughts while thinking over what Bakura had said. The fire demon had been right. Yami was in his human form a lot more lately and he had mentioned nothing about the reason why the demons were on the move.

Seto had always been wary of why Yami had saved him from that fire two years ago. The cat demon had insisted they team up together to defeat the demon that had killed Seto's brother, Mokuba. At the time Yami had claimed it was to prove to the demon hunter that demons could be good as well and some did not deserve to be mercilessly slaughtered.

Seto would have felt better about things if he and Yami had not already been intimate. The pair spent a lot of lonely nights roaming the world searching for evil demons. At times they would seek comfort in each other when the loneliness became too much. Seto found little comfort in the fact that the last time they had been together was months ago. He couldn't help but think that Yami had been trying to seduce him.

Lost in his thoughts, Seto didn't realize when Yami had fallen in step behind him. Bored with the silence, Yami waited until Seto was the right distance away before leaping in the air, transforming into a housecat in the process. Lightly landing on Seto's shoulders, Yami curled up and began falling asleep.

"I knew you wouldn't last long," Seto said as he reached up and patted Yami's soft black head, scratching behind the cat's ear in the process. Normally Yami hated it when Seto treated him as a cat but he could already feel the tension leaving Seto's body so he put up with it.

With gentle but tired purr, Yami shut his eyes and was soon fast asleep.

**

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**

"Yami wake up."

Yami's crimson eyes blinked open to find the two of them standing on the edge of the small village. Rows of small cabins made out of logs, wood and other natural materials made up the village. A larger multi-floored building was nestled in the middle of the town square. Experience told both hunter and demon that the larger building was an inn and a pub, which was where they knew to begin their search for information.

Yami took in everything as Seto walked towards the inn. The villagers were interacting in their daily lives and nothing seemed out of ordinary but one could never be so sure. Yami's own home village, Chale Jao, could easily be mistaken for a normal human village even though only demons lived here. Therefore long ago, Yami learned never to trust things with only his eyes.

"Welcome to Lagaan strangers'!" a cheerful voice boasted from behind the bar as soon as Seto walked inside the building. "Care for a drink or a bed for tonight?"

As both hunter and demon had thought, the ground floor was used as a pub. Wooden tables were arranged throughout the dark room. In the back was a staircase, which both Seto and Yami knew led up to rooms that people could stay in.

"A room and perhaps some food," Seto replied as he strolled over to the bar. As soon as he got close enough Yami jumped from Seto's shoulders and landed gracefully on the bar. Knowing what to do, Yami began immediately rubbing his head against the barkeep's arm. It never hurt to suck up a little when one was seeking information and no one could resist the cuteness of a cat.

"Cute kitty," the barkeep said as he petted Yami's back with hard strokes. The cat demon gave a fake purr of contentment to keep up the appearance.

"It wouldn't be a problem if he wandered around the village a bit would it?" Seto inquired. "He's been riding around a lot lately and could use some exercise. He's getting kind of fat."

Yami shot Seto a dirty look and gave the kitty version of a pout.

"O' sure, the kids will love him and the mice won't!" The barkeeper laughed heartily while Yami quickly hopped off the counter and hurried off, leaving Seto to deal with the man.

The routine was one they had used many times in the past. Enter a new village, get a room for the night and while Seto got to question the villagers, Yami in his cat form would roam around looking for information on his own. Everyone had secrets but most people thought he was an innocent cat after all and were not so concerned with keeping their secrets around an animal.

"KITTY!"

Yami froze in fear when he heard one of the things he hated most in the world. He soon tried darting off but was not quick enough as chubby arms and hands wrapped around his body as a young boy picked him up.

"KITTY! KITTY! KITTY!" the child continued to chant and the boy was soon joined by more children of all ages as they all attempted to pet the cat with their grubby hands.

Yami gave a pitiful meow as he struggled to get away from the little monsters but it was no use, he was stuck and not going anywhere until they got bored and decided to let him go. With a small humanlike sigh, Yami hoped that Seto was dealing better back at the pub.

**

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**

Seto sat at a corner table with his back up against the wall so that no one could sneak up behind him. He had been sitting there for a while as he surveyed the patrons coming in and out of the pub. Thus far he had not seen the demon they had been hunting or the white-haired fire demon but it was still early into the evening.

The hours ticked by and it had been awhile since the hunter and his demon partner separated. Normally by now Seto would have grown concerned about his absent partner but after Bakura told him earlier that day Seto was still reluctant to be around the cat demon.

Dusk fell across the landscape outside and still Seto saw no demon enter the tavern. The villagers who were gathered in the tavern seemed relaxed and at ease, very unlike those who were concerned about demons nearby.

With a reluctant sigh, Seto stood from his table and walked through the room until he reached the stairs. He decided it was pointless hanging around waiting for one of the demons they were searching for to show up. Nighttime would be better as demons were bolder during the darkness, more willing to display their abilities instead of pretending to be human. Seto knew however that if he would be up most of the night he might as well get some rest while it was still early. Even an experienced demon hunter like himself could run into problems against a powerful demon, especially one who wanted to make a name for himself by defeating the famous hunter.

Stealthily Seto entered the darkened room he had rented. It wasn't much. A bed, desk and dresser were the only items in the room. Making quick work, Seto shoved the dresser over to the now closed door so that no one could try and break in while he was asleep without causing a loud disturbance. Satisfied with his work, Seto turned back around and through the window spotted a black cat perched on the window still, pawing at the glass with his front paws, wanting inside.

Seto silently cursed to himself as he walked over and opened the window. Immediately the cat jumped inside the room and hurried past Seto while the hunter shut the window once again. "Find anything?" he asked.

"No, I was manhandled by a bunch of children." Turning around away from the window, Seto was not surprised to find Yami in his human form. His crimson eyes were angry, his arms were crossed over his chest and there was an annoyed pout on his face. Despite himself Seto began chuckling at his partner, which only increased the cat demon's annoyance. "It's not funny Seto!"

"Oh but it is from my point of view." Yami continued to stand in the middle of the room pouting, while Seto busied himself getting ready for bed. The last thing Seto needed to worry about at the moment was what Bakura had said to him so he tried pushing it from his mind.

The quiver of arrows came off first and Seto placed it on the desk next to the bed before setting his bow down next to it. Next came Seto's belt with his sword and dagger on it. The belt and sword were also placed on the desk, while the dagger was hidden safely under Seto's pillow. Lastly came off Seto's white cape and his boots, the cape being draped over the back of the chair that was with the desk. Seto's other clothes would remain on in case he had to move fast. The life of a demon hunter was definitely not a glamorous one, as rarely was Seto able to properly rest.

"I see you've found nothing either," Yami dryly commented as he watched Seto lay down on the bed and close his eyes.

"Not yet, which is why I'm sleeping now and searching more in a few hours. I suggest you do the same."

The room remained quiet for a few moments until the gentle sound of Seto sleeping began. Yami sighed as he stared at the sleeping form of his partner. Normally Seto would rent a room with two beds; one for each of them, or a room with a bed that was big enough for them to share, but not this time, which meant that Yami would have to sleep in his cat form if he wanted to sleep at all that evening.

Again Yami found himself concerned over Seto. He knew that the hunter hadn't been acting the same since his conversation with Bakura and it pained Yami's heart.

For years, Yami had secretly been in love with Seto without the hunter knowing it. Ever since that time when he was young and traveled with Bakura to the Pool of Destiny to prove themselves to their elders. The place was a demon sanctuary and it was said that those who looked into the pool would see their future. When Yami had looked into the Pool of Destiny he had seen Seto's face and had fallen in love. He even betrayed his friendship with Bakura so that he and the hunter could one day be together. That had been 3000 years ago, long before Seto had even been born; but Yami loved him nonetheless.

With the time of mating fast approaching, Yami longed to be bound body and soul with Seto. Since their first encounter, Yami had worked hard to gain the demon hunter's trust, but time was fast running out. The next mating season wouldn't happen for another 500 years, long after Seto's death if they did not make the current deadline.

Giving a heavy sigh, Yami pushed his thoughts out of his mind. He then transformed back into a cat and jumped on top of Seto, curling up into a ball on Seto's chest. At least with only having one small bed in the room it meant Yami could sleep close to Seto without the other becoming aware of the secret love.

**

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**

Yami's ear twitched moments before he lazily opened his crimson eyes. Seto was still fast asleep but Yami could have sworn he heard something. Staying still Yami waited to see if he heard the sound again. A few minutes of silence went by and Yami was beginning to think he imagined the sounds when he heard it again. Voices talking in the next room, once of which was very familiar to the cat demon.

Fully awake now, Yami jumped off Seto and landed on the floor before stretching his body. His footsteps were light as he walked across the floor and over to the wall. Tilting his head, Yami pressed on of his cat ears up against the wall and listened. A few seconds was all that it took for Yami to get his confirmation about whose voice he heard.

Yami's cat eyes allowed him to see perfectly in the darkness and he quickly spotted a small hole in the wall near the floorboards. Such holes were common in run-down places like the inn, so that mice and cats like himself could stealthily move about.

Crawling through the small hole, Yami found himself in the room next door. The room was like Seto's, bare except for the odd furniture. On the bed were two half-naked bodies, one raven haired and one white-haired. The pair were currently making out and oblivious that they now had a visitor watching them.

Jumping up on the desk next to the bed, Yami sat down and gave them both a kitty glare until they eventually felt eyes on them.

"Bakura is that your cat?"

"What?" Bakura asked snapping his head up and stared at Yami. The fire demon could have sworn the cat was smirking at him. "Hell no! Just ignore him Otogi!" Bakura went back to kissing the other man's neck. Otogi however was not quite as eager to go back making out.

"But he's staring at us!"

"Kitten get out of here!"

"So he is your cat!"

"He's not!"

"But you just said his name!"

"His name isn't Kitten!"

By now the two were kneeling on the bed facing each other as they yelled back and forth. Deciding to add to the fury, Yami jumped onto the bed and rubbed up against Bakura's leg purring happily. Bakura quickly knocked him away with his arm, shoving the cat to the floor.

"What's your problem?"

"My problem is you lied to me!"

"I didn't lie!"

"Screw this!" Otogi grumbled as he stood up and grabbed his shirt off the floor before storming out of the room.

"Otogi!" Bakura attempted to follow the raven-haired man but received a door slammed in his face.

"What did you do that for! That was a potential!" Bakura yelled as he spun around to face an impassionate Yami.

"He wasn't your type anyway," Yami replied with a small shrug of his shoulders.

"He was a slut! He'd have been perfect for me!"

"What about Malik?" Malik was Bakura's on-again, off-again lover. Personally Yami felt that Malik was good for Bakura but the fire demon insisted on trying to shove the tanned blond away.

"He dumped me again. For someone who's also a slut he seems to have a problem with me sleeping around. Besides you had to go and spoil it by telling him that you're a demon. Since he found out about me he's become so clingy. Fortunately Ryou's training finished up on time, allowing me to get out of that damn village and away from Malik. He's been staying with us and unfortunately my parents love him."

"I don't care about your personal life, Bakura!" Yami snapped and Bakura's anger was replaced with satisfaction; a small smirk appeared on his face.

"You seem tense Kitten."

Yami growled at the use of the old nickname that Bakura had given him a long time ago. Back then it had only been mildly annoying but now Yami full out hated the nickname.

"What did you say to Seto this morning?" Yami demanded to know as strolled over to the white-haired fire demon. Although much shorter than Bakura, the cat demon was an imposing figure that should be feared. Yami was the one who killed Pegasus, a powerful demon who slaughtered humans, wiping out villages within a few hours.

"I merely told him the truth," Bakura replied while shrugging his shoulders and trying to look innocent. "The demon you're hunting for is a child demon who was playing."

"That's all?" Yami narrowed his eyes as he began staring down Bakura.

"I might have mentioned something about mating season is coming up and how unlike any other demon you are not concerned with finding a mate." Bakura studied his fingernails with boredom while he talked, unconcerned that in front of him, Yami was growing angrier by the minute. "I think I also suggested that the reason you aren't looking for a mate is because you already found one…"

"Bakura!"

"I only speak the truth." Looking back down at the other demon, Bakura threw him another satisfied smirk. "Admit it, you want him."

"That's not the point!"

"Oh really?" Bakura asked as his smirk grew. "We both know you won't be able to hold off your natural instinct for much longer. You're a demon, the very thing that Seto Kaiba hates. He'll kill you if he only had the choice of that and becoming the thing that killed his brother."

"Why do you hate me so much?" The anger had left Yami now and all that was left with pain and sadness. They had been friends for so long and now all they did was fight.

"I'm not sure but I think it has something to do with the fact you tried to kill me while I was asleep."

"And you tried to kill both me and Seto in that fire."

"That's how you two met, you should be thanking me for that fire."

"Bakura…"

"Oh fine!" Bakura pouted as he crossed his arms over his chest. "You did start this you know. You've deserved everything I've done to you over the recent years. All I did was tell Kaiba the truth this morning. If he's acting moody around you now, it's your fault for not telling him the truth."

Yami sadly sighed. "You're right. I should have been honest with him."

"Well now if you'll excuse me since you successfully scared off Otogi I have to find someone new to spend the night with." Picking up his own shirt off the floor, Bakura began dressing.

"Seto and I are going out hunting soon," Yami warned him. "You should probably stay in tonight; I won't tell him you're here."

"Sorry Kitten but I stopped trusting you long ago."

"Bakura-!" Yami tried calling but the fire demon was already walking out the door.

"I won't be coming back here Kitten, it's not worth my time to stick around here anymore," Bakura called over his shoulder before disappearing from Yami's sight.

With another sad sigh, Yami transformed back into a cat and crawled back through the hole to his own room.


	2. Parting Ways

**A/N - **Wow thank you everyone who reviewed; keep it up! Thank you always to Dukie for editing this and now onto some important info:

Yahoo deleted the group _Kokoro no Yami_, which was a hanging place for yaoi fans who were sick of the SetoxJou pairing run by Dragon, Pysche, Puppy and myself. Therefore KnY was moved to a new place. The link to the new place can be found in my bio (click on my name).

Also those of you who are familiar with 'shipping' names for the pairings know that SetoxJou is called 'Puppyshipping', while the other day Dragon and I were talking and decided that Puppyshipping made no sense for that pairing. Seto always called Jou Dog or Mutt, never Puppy. Also Seto would never enter a master/puppy relationship with Jou. We did however agree that Otogi and Jou would make more sense to call 'Puppyshipping', as Otogi is more obessed with the puppy stuff then Seto ever was (remember it was Otogi who demanded Jou to dress in a puppy suit and be his slave for a week). Therefore 'Puppyshipping' now referes to OtogixJou while **Mutt**shipping is SetoxJou. Please spread this news around as much as possible to YGO places.

* * *

"Where did you go?"

Yami paused, his body only halfway out of the hole. Standing directly in front of him was Seto, fully dressed and ready to go with his arms crossed in front of his chest. With a small gulp, Yami squeezed out from the hole and transformed into a human.

"I heard noises next door and decided to investigate."

"And…?"

"And nothing." Yami eyed his human partner and tried giving him a look of innocence. "It was just Bakura and some slut he found. I tried interrogating him but he ran off."

Seto cocked an eyebrow. "That's it?"

"Yes! What's with you today?" Although Yami knew the answer to that question he wanted to hear it from Seto.

"Nothing," the demon hunter replied as he turned his head and looked away. "Let's just go and complete our sweep of the area. Bakura may be gone but that other demon could be still in the area."

Yami sighed and silently nodded his head. Turning into a cat he made the movement to jump upon Seto's shoulders but the demon hunter was already swiftly strolling towards the door, not waiting for the cat demon.

Yami padded after the brunet, trying to keep up on his short legs. He knew what was wrong with the hunter but didn't know how to correct it.

Seto was at the stairs now, heading down to the ground level. Yami was about to follow him when he felt hands around his body as a person picked him up.

At first Yami feared it was one of those kids again and squirmed as hard he could, wanting to get away. Then…he recognized the scent of the person who had picked up him. Being flipped around, Yami found himself looking up into the familiar face of a bronze skinned blond who had lavender eyes.

"It is you!" Malik squealed, hugging Yami tightly. "I heard someone storming past my room and decided to investigate. I thought I saw the back of Seto's head but wasn't sure."

Malik backed up until he was once again in his room and slammed the door shut. Jumping down from Malik's arms, Yami quickly transformed. "Malik!"

"I know, I know," Malik replied, waving Yami off. "You're working but I only wanted to say 'hi'."

"Malik, it's okay," Yami quickly replied. Malik was one of the few friends he had anymore. "What are you doing here?"

"Kura," Malik simply said as he flopped down onto the bed and rolled his eyes. "He disappeared on me…_again_. He insists on finding a mate even though he's too much of a blockhead to realize the only one dumb enough to be with him is me."

Yami frowned and sat next to his somewhat friend. "Why do you put up with him? He treats you like dirt."

"Love is a funny thing," Malik replied with a bitter laugh. "I first started out to give him heck for running off on me without a goodbye but somewhere along the way I fell in love with the idiot when I wasn't looking. Now I'm stuck." Malik looked down at his hands and began playing with a gold ring on his finger. "I told him I was breaking up with him, trying to give him the space he needed and hoping he'd realize he needs me. Unfortunately he saw that as an opportunity to run off to find a mate."

"He's gone you know," Yami quietly told him. "I ended up scaring him off a few minutes ago."

"The quest continues," Malik replied with a small sigh before a renewed look of determination crossed his face. "I don't care though. I'm going to search this entire world until I find him and then I'm dragging his ass back to Chale Jao so he can mate with me whether he likes it or not!"

"Good for you Malik. Before you leave here you should find someone here by the name of Otogi. Bakura took a fancy to him before I scared him off."

"Otogi, huh?"

"Yeah, he has black hair and green eyes."

Malik smiled at him. "Thanks Yami. I think I'll visit him and make him understand that no one touches my man!"

Yami laughed. "No problem."

"What about you? Is Seto ready for the ceremony?"

Yami hung his head briefly while he forced a smile before looking back at the blond. "Can't wait!"

"How can he not be thrilled?" Malik questioned. "It's obvious he loves you."

"I haven't exactly told him yet," Yami admitted. "Kura pretty much spilled it this afternoon and Seto's been moody since. He's going to flip when I come clean."

"Hit him on the head with a wooden log and make him."

Yami grinned. "Like you?"

"Exactly!" Malik smiled brightly at the cat demon before growing serious again. "You need be honest with him. He may surprise you."

"I hope so Malik, I hope so."

**

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**

Seto's piercing eyes scanned the dark woods around the village, wishing he had Yami with him. He had, however, allowed his anger to get the best of him and had stormed off before Yami could catch up to him.

His bow was cocked with an arrow, ready to fire, but he took little comfort from it, knowing a demon could attack him from anywhere in the dark. '_Yami!' _He frantically called out in his mind. Thus far their mind link only worked when Yami was trying to talk to him but he was hoping for a miracle.

The crack of a branch caught Seto's attention and he swung around to where the sound had come from. "Yami?" he questioned, peering out into the blackness. Instead of Yami's comforting meows a deep chuckling came as the reply.

"How did you like my pets _Master Hunter_?" a voice softly asked, both respectful and insulting at the same time. Frantically Seto looked around for the owner of the voice. "My gift is rare among my kind. Most demons deal with the elements or morph like your partner."

"You're boring me," Seto finally snarled back. "Why don't you come out and face me like a man?"

The owner of the voice chuckled again. "Why not _Master Hunter_; you're hardly anything without your demon partner."

From the shadows crept a man with a purple cloak wrapped around his shoulders. His arms were bare, and Seto could easily see under the dim moonlight that they were muscular and bronze. His hair was blond and spiky, his eyes a dark shade of lavender. If Seto hadn't known better he would have thought the demon in front of him was related to Malik.

"So you're Marik, huh? You don't look like anything special."

Marik glared evilly at Seto but refused to answer him. "I wonder what your power will be," he quietly stated, changing the subject.

Seto tried deciphering what Marik had said but couldn't figure it out. He was losing focus however, letting Marik get to him. The demon, although not terribly powerful, knew how to get under his skin; Seto mentally cursed himself, wishing he had waited for Yami.

The demon was speaking again, drawing Seto back to reality. "Often the Mate takes on powers similar to the demon who gave him the power but that doesn't necessary happen all the time; look at Pegasus and Cynthia; she had elemental powers while he could morph, yet they were mated."

Seto narrowed his blue eyes at the demon. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh haven't you heard?" the demon mocked. Marik was about to say something more when he suddenly cocked his head, listening to something in the distance. "The kitty arrives."

Seto sharply turned his head giving Marik the moment he needed to slink back into the darkness. "Hey come back here!" Although Seto couldn't see Marik, he could hear him as the demon ran through forest.

Marik's footsteps suddenly stopped so Seto came to a halt, spinning around in a slow circle wondering where the demon could have gone. His sword was out and ready to strike, while around him in the dark the demon's sickening laugh echoed throughout the tall trees.

**

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**

Yami sniffed the ground; he knew Seto had been there recently and was currently trying to find his partner. After leaving Malik, Yami had headed out into the forest in hopes he could find the demon hunter. He had an intense feeling of dread that Seto was in trouble.

Yami's leopard tail twitched as he trotted down the path. With his eyes he could easily see in the dark but knew enough not to run as he needed to conserve his energy; leopards didn't have the best abilities of maintaining a fast speed over long stretch of ground.

Catching Seto's scent again, Yami quickly weaved through the maze of trees. His ears jolted around as he thought he heard voices but quickly dismissed it as howling of the wind.

_'Seto?'_ He tried silently calling out despite knowing that the demon hunter had no way of replying. Still though, he hoped if Seto could hear him it would bring reassurance that he was nearby and was searching for the brunet.

Sick laughter rang throughout the forest and Yami quickened his pace. Through the dense brush he finally saw the clearing with Seto standing in the middle of it, looking at something in front of him.

Crawling now, with his body close to the ground, Yami inched forward, unseen to everything around him. Finally he saw what Seto was staring at…the demon that they had been hunting.

"I think we lost your partner." One of Marik's demonic owls was seated on his shoulder and then flew off, not noticing the black figure of Yami's body crouched on the grown and not moving.

"Showing fear is a weakness," Seto coldly replied. Cautiously lifting his head slightly, Yami took a sniff of the area before determining that it was safe to move onward. As he passed Seto's prone body, Yami didn't dare try to warn him he was near; he couldn't risk Seto giving away that he was there; he knew that they would have to catch Marik by surprise for he had too many spies in the forest, animals he turned demonic.

"It's not fear, it's intelligence," Marik argued. "Other demons have tried taking both of you on and they had nothing but failure. Even demons like Pegasus couldn't defeat both of you together. Two on one is hardly a fair fight."

"Says the demon who's up to no good."

Yami was almost close to Marik now. Seto was doing a good job of keeping the demon distracted, but it wasn't enough; Malik would notice him if he got much closer.

A screeching cry rang throughout the forest as one of Marik's animals met a painful end. Smoke rose up into the sky, followed by the muffled muttering of Bakura complaining about all the vermin running around.

Marik snapped his head sideways, which gave Yami the opportunity he was looking for. Leaping forward the cat demon landed squarely on Marik's body, knocking him to the ground. His sharp teeth sunk into Marik's shoulder.

Growling in frustration, Marik attempted to throw Yami off of him but Seto had already begun to run forward. A swift kick to Marik's head made him drop unconscious and Yami released his hold.

"When did you get here?" Seto questioned as he pulled up the heavy body and threw one of Marik's arms around his shoulders.

"Not long," Yami replied, now in his human form. Walking over to the other side of Marik's body and mimicked Seto's move to help carry some of the weight. "Thanks for distracting him."

"You could have told me you were there."

"I didn't dare," Yami explained with a small shake of his head. "Those critters of Marik's would easily see me if I made very much movement."

"What will happen to them? We're not going to have to rid the entire forest of them are we?"

"They should be back to normal soon now without Marik influencing them." The pair continued to drag Marik's body through the dark forest. "There's a demon outpost near here where we can take Marik. Other demons can handle him from there."

Under the advice of Yami, the demon community had set up various outposts throughout the world where troubled demons could go for help if they got into trouble while wandering the land. These outposts also had jail cells in them where dangerous demons caught by Seto and Yami could be put while they waited for punishment given down by the Ruling Council of the community they were from.

The moon shone through the foliage, lighting the path for the two partners. It didn't take them long to reach the outpost and fortunately Marik didn't start coming around until after they had already dragged him inside. The demon in charge of the outpost thanked them and assured that the demon would be taken care of. Safe in his cell, Marik glared at them both as the hunter and cat demon left the outpost.

"We should talk," Yami softly said as they walked back to the village. "There are some things you should know, which I haven't been honest about."

"Hn."

"Every 500 years a demon is allowed to seek out a human as a mate," Yami explained. "During a ceremony in the demon's home village, the pair is bonded together where the human becomes a demon and normally gains a power similar to their mate. It is said that a newly turned demon could be more powerful than one who was born a demon but that has yet to happen. Depending on the might of the original demon, the new demon can be either weak or powerful. The pair will be bonded forever, drawing strength from each other."

"Why are you telling me this?" Seto cautiously asked, shooting a quick look at the cat demon as they continued to walk down the black path. "It has nothing to do with me…or does it?"

"Seto…"

Seto stopped and shoved Yami's shoulder forcing him to swing around so they were facing each other. "Shouldn't you be out looking for a mate? Or is it like Bakura said and you think you've already found one?"

"Seto don't act this way," Yami begged. "I'm your friend!"

"And don't get any ideas that we'll ever be something more!"

Yami felt like shuddering under the glare the brunet was giving him; a look that was normally reserved for the demons they were hunting. But he refused to back down. "Friend," he repeated. "That means you trust me…remember?"

"You've seduced me from day one!" Seto argued shoving him again. "You're the one who told me you saw me in that vision you had at the stupid pool!"

"Seto…you had no complaints when you were thrusting in and out of me…"

The comment however only made Seto angrier, which was not what Yami wanted. "Let's get one thing straight…_you_ mean nothing to me."

"Seto, you're mad. You don't honestly believe that."

"The only reason I kept you around was because I thought I owed you one for saving my life. That debt has long been repaid."

"Seto…"

"Why do all your idiotic demon friends think you want me to be your mate then?" Seto growled as he leaned close to Yami's face; his eyes were filled with fire. "What were you going to do? Drag me to whatever ceremony takes place and force me to go through with it?"

Yami's heart broke. "Seto, I would never do something like that!"

"Nothing would surprise me anymore when it comes to you!"

"Seto stop acting like this!" Yami yelled, finally raising his voice. He had tried keeping his cool while they talked but he now knew he needed to knock some sense into his partner. "You're listening to enemies! Not me! The one who you should be trusting!"

"You're the one who's always so buddy-buddy with Bakura," Seto coldly replied as he turned around so that his back was facing the cat demon.

"My loyalties lie with you, not Bakura."

Yami stared at Seto's back, hoping his words finally got through to the demon hunter. He needed Seto in his life, needed the brunet to understand. Finally after a long moment of quietness, Seto finally began speaking again.

"We need to end this here." Seto turned his head to look at Yami with a hurt expression on his face. "I can no longer trust you. I now know I shouldn't have trusted you all along."

"Seto…"

"You broke my trust. You could have told me a while ago about this, before I had to hear it from both Bakura and Marik. I don't give out trust easily but I gave it to you because I thought you were different."

"Seto…"

"Don't try and follow me Atemu."

Yami's heart felt like it had been ripped out of his chest when Seto called him by his real name; the demon hunter had always called him 'Yami'. Sadly he watched as Seto walked away and disappeared into the night. A single tear fell down Yami's cheek when he realized he was all alone and that Seto was not coming back.


	3. New Meetings

High up in the tall trees, hiding under the cover of darkness, Yami sighed as he shifted, his black leopard body blending in perfectly with the starless night.

Yami felt physically ill as he stretched his lean body, not having eaten a thing in the three days since Seto had left. Desperately, Yami had waited in the spot they had parted, hoping that the demon hunter would eventually forgive him and return but with each passing day, Yami became more and more aware that the thread of hope he was hanging onto was getting smaller and smaller. Finally needing to eat, Yami knew he'd have to temporarily move from the spot if he wanted to find something to hunt.

In his leopard form, Yami easily climbed headfirst down the enormous tree trunk. He knew he wouldn't have much trouble finding something to eat, since leopards were one of the best nighttime hunters – which Yami often took advantage of. He hoped to quickly make a kill so he could return to his temporary home in the tree to continue waiting for the demon hunter.

Rapidly making his way over the rough ground, Yami headed through the thick bushes, traveling as far away from the worn path as he dared; he didn't want to get lost, but the majority of animals knew to stay away from the forest path as that where humans traveled.

It wasn't long before Yami caught the scent of a hare. Although the hare was smaller than Yami desired it would do.

Crouching low to the ground, hiding in the brush, Yami soon spotted the hare a few feet of him, nibbling on some grass. Yami realized right away that he was fortunate; he was downwind and the hare's back was to the cat demon, making it impossible for the small animal to see or smell the larger cat that was silently crawling forward.

When Yami was close enough to touch the hare, he sprang forward, jaws snapping around the small animal's neck. The hare struggled between Yami's teeth but eventually became limp, as its life slipped away. With his prize in his mouth, Yami hurried back to the tree that he called home and quickly climbed up it in case any predators were nearby and wanted to steal his snack.

Satisfied with a job well done, Yami quickly began inhaling his food, not knowing when he would have a chance to eat again.

**

* * *

**

For the next nine days Yami's life fell into a steady routine. Every few days, Yami would get down from his perch and hunt for food. Except for those hunting trips and occasionally getting water from a nearby river, Yami didn't dare to leave the tree in case Seto returned while he was off somewhere; Yami had nightmares of Seto returning only to find the cat demon wasn't there and then thinking that Yami had left, giving up hope; Yami vowed never to allow that to happen.

Because he spent all his time in a tree, Yami's reflexes and speed began slowing. Hunting eventually became more difficult as Yami didn't have the stamina to give chase if his prey ran. As a result his hunger was causing him to make stupid mistakes while hunting, like not being silent and not getting close enough before pouncing.

Starving himself to death, Yami realized he soon had to leave the tree. His body was weak and he needed to seek safety in his human form. He would welcome death if he thought he had lost all chances with Seto but in his heart he knew the demon hunter would eventually come around.

On Day 11, a quiet chatter was heard from down the path; the sun was high in the sky creating soft shadows throughout the damp underbrush and Yami knew that the voices had to belong to human travelers. The cat demon was desperately weak, not having eaten a thing in 6 days, but knew it was the one opportunity he had get among humans.

Using the last of his strength Yami transformed into his human form. Completely exhausted, Yami's small form tumbled to the forest floor landing in front of three pairs of feet.

"Get some water Amelda," Yami heard a voice command before he completely blacked out.

**

* * *

**

Seto paused his step, a cold chill running through his body and an image of the cat demon sprung up in his mind, which was odd itself as Seto hadn't thought of Yami since they had parted 11 days earlier. In fact the demon hunter tried everything in his power to forget that Yami existed.

Shaking his head to clear it, Seto continued on his way, walking through tall grass on top of a massive cliff; rolling hills could be seen for miles down in the valley below but Seto cared little for the scenery, all he could think about was something bad had happened to the cat demon and he hated himself for caring.

**

* * *

**

Yami blinked open his crimson eyes. The first thing he noticed that it was now nightfall. The second thing was that he was naked, lying under a warm brown blanket.

Frantically Yami tried to recall what happened. He remembered hearing human voices and then falling out of a tree but that was it. Under the blanket he shifted his body until satisfied nothing was broken.

"Hey take it easy," a soothing voice said moments before a redhead hovered over him. At first Yami thought the redhead was a girl, with his shoulder length hair and tunic that only covered half of his body, but then the cat demon quickly realized that the person was a guy.

"Who are you?" Yami demanded, already feeling stronger. Next to him he heard a fire crackle as the flames burned wood sticks.

"Easy friend, my name is Amelda." Briefly Yami remembered someone mentioning the name before he fell unconscious. "You literally fell out of the sky in front of my companions and me. You were in bad shape so we made camp and began force-feeding you water and stew. Varon and Raphael are out hunting and gathering more firewood while I stayed behind to take care of you."

"And my clothes?" Yami questioned as he propped himself up on one arm, and to his dismay he noticed his bell remained on the ribbon around his neck and it jingled as he moved.

"They were dirty and grimy so we washed them for you," Amelda explained pointing to Yami's right. Turning his head, Yami saw his leather clothes and black cape were neatly drying next to the fire.

"Thank you," Yami whispered as he laid down again, this time on his side so he could stare into the fire at it crackled and danced with life. "My name is Yami."

Amelda smiled as he knelt next to Yami's prone form. "No problem Yami. We just did something that any human would do. I have to ask though…what were you doing?"

"Seeing if I could fly," Yami lamely replied. He knew he owed Amelda and his friends his life but that didn't mean they were privy to all his information.

"Ah…trust me, secrets are something we all know about," Amelda simply replied and Yami was grateful; he didn't need someone insisting he talk just because they saved his life. "You should rest some more. I'll wake you when the others are back with some food."

Yami yawned as he nodded his head; the past week and a half had taken a huge toll on his body. Re-closing his eyes, Yami soon fell into a peaceful sleep.

Amelda watched the tri-haired young man drift off and was eventually satisfied that the one called Yami was in a deep sleep. "He's out," he quietly called into the woods behind him. Two men appeared from the trees; one was large with short blond hair while his companion was shorter with spiky brunet hair. Despite their size difference, anyone could easily tell that both could handle themselves in a fight. The brunet was carrying a pile of firewood while the blond was dragging a deer carcass, an arrow piercing out of the deer's heart.

"Did you get any information out of him?" the brunet asked in annoyance.

Amelda nodded his head, his demeanor changing from the light hearted attitude he had with Yami to one of extreme seriousness. "He said his name is Yami."

"So? I'm sure a bunch of people have that name," the brunet argued; the brunet clearly didn't believe they had found the one they were looking for.

"Shut up Varon, next time you stay and play nurse!"

A smirk crossed the brunet's face. "That role is perfectly suited for you."

"I'm warning you Varon…"

"Do you really think you can defeat me in a fight?" Varon scoffed. Although the two were friends they often had a rivalry going on as to who was second in command behind Raphael and were both willing to stab the other in the back to prove themselves to their employer.

"Both of you stop it," the blond commanded, clearly the leader of the group as both Amelda and Varon stopped arguing and looked at the tall, muscled man. "We know his alias is 'Yami' and I doubt that many humans go around wearing a bell around their necks. Plus he seems to be recovering well from the state we found him in this afternoon."

"So should we take him back to Lord Dartz?" Varon questioned and Raphael nodded his head.

"We'll put the suggestion in his head when he wakes again."

"And if he doesn't agree to come with us?"

"We make him."

Unable to go against Raphael's decision, Varon and Amelda quickly agreed with their friend. Sitting down around the fire, they began preparing the deer Raphael had killed for them and waiting for Yami to wake up again.

**

* * *

**

With a frustrated growl, Bakura tossed what was supposed to be that night's bed companion out of the rented room at the inn where he was staying. At first the shaggy blond had seemed interesting and was certainly hot enough for Bakura's taste but Jou had turned out to be far too stupid for the fire demon to bear.

A satisfied smirk crossed his face as the railing of the balcony hit Jou in the stomach. Once the blond regained his bearings he swung around, ready for a fight but wisely backed down when he was met with the imposing figure cackling madly. Reluctantly the shaggy haired blond stormed off down the stairs, clutching his stomach.

Bakura continued to laugh until a particular scent invaded his nostrils, wild flowers mixed with honey. The fire demon quickly darted back inside his room and quietly closed the door until only an inch was left open. As he waited and watched he soon heard the quiet humming sound of someone singing their favorite song.

Holding his breath, Bakura soon saw Malik pass his door. Quietly closing the door the rest of the way, the fire demon frantically looked for an escape route. He couldn't morph out as the fire used to morph would burn down the inn and despite wanting to get away from Malik, Bakura didn't want him dead.

Throwing his shirt on over his head, the only article of clothing he wasn't already wearing, Bakura raced over to the window. His room was on the second floor but it shouldn't be too much of a drop for a demon. Silently he remembered his days as a child, hopping from rock to rock with Atemu next to the waterfall near their home.

Shoving open the window, Bakura jumped, catching his right foot on the windowsill. Ungracefully tumbling to the ground, the fire demon landed awkwardly on his side, damaging some ribs.

As he limped away, Bakura congratulated himself on a job well done of escaping Malik.

**

* * *

**

Seto woke with a start as the feeling of dread ran throughout his body. He had been dreaming, having a nightmare really, about Yami and couldn't help but think that something was wrong with his former partner.

"This is stupid," the demon hunter grumbled as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood, allowing the blankets to fall from half naked body. The hunter had stopped at a village for the night, needing a safe haven after the disturbing feeling he had earlier that day. "Yami is fine; he can take care of himself. I'm just feeling bad for hurting his feelings, despite the fact that he deserved it."

Seto began pacing as he continued to mutter to himself, reassuring his mind that Yami was fine. He was however bothered by the fact that these odd occurrences were happening now and not sooner to when they had parted. Seto figured that any guilt should have left him days ago.

A loud thud of a knock against Seto's room door brought the demon hunter out of his grumbling. Dressed in only his slacks, Seto grabbed his sword and swung open the door ready to strike; but instead he found angry lavender eyes staring at him. "Malik?"

"Have you seen Kura?" the blond demanded to know. "I lost track of him a few days ago and have no clue where he went."

"Have you been following me?" Seto's matched Malik's glare with one of his own as he lowered his sword; Malik was no threat to him; only a beetle and Bakura feared the wrath of Malik.

"No," Malik replied with a roll of his eyes. "I've been following Bakura but I lost track of him. I think he did his fire morphing thing to this village and want to know if you've seen him."

Seto rubbed his temple; he had a bad headache from the nightmare and really didn't need to deal with a psychotic demon and his lovestruck boyfriend. "No I haven't seen the fire demon."

"Where's Yami?" Malik persisted as he tried peaking inside the room. "He'll probably know something; Kura likes to annoy him."

"He's not here Malik!" Seto insisted; he was tired and had a crummy day, all he wanted to do was get rid of the blond, go back to sleep and hopefully have no more nightmares.

"Oh, he's out roaming somewhere isn't he?" A grin crossed Malik's face. "Are you sure that's wise? A tomcat could find him and want some action…" Malik trailed off as he began lightly thrusting his hips at the demon hunter.

With a fierce growl, Seto grabbed Malik by the front of his tanned tunic, hauled the blond into his room and slammed him up against the wall. "Look you little punk, that wasn't funny!"

"Relax!" Malik protested as he squirmed free of Seto's grasp. "It was a joke! Everyone knows that Yami belongs only to you!"

Again Malik found the back of his head being slammed against the wall. "Yami means nothing to me!" Quickly Seto released Malik and stalked to the other side of the room so he wouldn't be tempted to further hurt the blond.

"What's with you?" Malik grumbled as he rubbed the back of his head. "Did something happen between you and Yami?"

Seto glared at Malik from where he remained on the other side of the room. "You knew didn't you?"

"Knew what?"

"About this whole mating business." Seto began angrily pacing on his side of the room, knowing that if he didn't he would go over and hurt Malik again. "That's why you're so hung up on finding Bakura this time when it's never bothered you before. You're worried he's going to find someone else."

Malik rolled his eyes. "Of course I'm worried. I love the idiot and have less than a month and a half to convince him he loves me or else we'll never be able to be together."

"What do you mean?"

"I won't be around in 500 years for the next season and although I don't know all the details I know enough to understand that this is an important moment for demons. They don't just go out and find the first human they come across; their mate is the other half of their soul. I heard it's possible for a demon to die if he and his mate do not join and become one."

Seto remained silent, ignoring the blond as he stopped pacing, the anger flowing from his body. Finally Malik became fed up and quietly left the room, allowing Seto to become lost in his thoughts.

_'Dead…?'_

**

* * *

**

The sun was slowly rising in the sky when Yami woke again. "Soup?" Amelda offered as the cat demon sat up and spied the bowl, which was held out towards him.

"Thank you," Yami replied. Making sure the blanket was still covering all his body parts as it pooled around his waist, Yami gladly took the bowl and began slurping down the food.

"These are Varon and Raphael," Amelda explained as he continued to talk. It was then that Yami noticed the two other men seated on the other side of the dying fire. Cautiously he eyed them; his animal instinct told him to be wary of them.

"Hello."

"I would be Raphael," the blond one confirmed. Yami recognized his voice from the day before as the one who had ordered Amelda to get water before he passed out and began to relax; if the trio meant him harm they had had plenty of opportunities to do it already. "You're lucky we found you yesterday."

"Very lucky," the one called Varon added as he stood and moved over so he could sit back down next to the cat demon. Trapped with Varon and Amelda on each side of him and Raphael in front of him, Yami's caution began rising again. "Normally our employer doesn't have us travel this far."

"Employer?"

"We work for a rich Lord," Amelda explained but left it at that.

"Perhaps if you come with us we can arrange for him to hire you," Varon suggested. "You look as if you could use a job."

"It's a kind offer but no thanks," Yami replied with a shake of his head. With his head clear he knew he did not want much more to do with the group. They seemed suspicious and he didn't trust their mysterious employer. "I'm waiting for someone and cannot leave the area."

"We insist!" Amelda argued. "You're one of us now. We take care of each other. We wouldn't abandon you here in the middle of the woods."

"Seto didn't abandon me!" Yami yelled as he jumped to his feet, forgetting he was naked. The three men rose as well but didn't stop Yami as he quickly dressed and turned his attention back to the trio as soon as he was fully clothed. "Thank you once again for your help but I think it's time for us to part."

"Take it easy," Varon cooed. Neither Varon nor Amelda left his side while he dressed, always remaining too close for Yami's comfort. "Lord Dartz could use some extra help and we thought having a nice job, living in a castle would be much better than hanging out in the woods with no food, no water, no shelter, waiting for some guy to return."

Yami frowned at the name Dartz. He'd heard that name somewhere before but couldn't remember where knew it from. "I prefer waiting here."

"Don't give us a bad name Yami," the big Raphael ordered. When they had stood, the blond had moved to stand behind the cat demon. "It would be dishonorable if Doma's Three Swordsmen did not assist a person in need."

Yami froze. He knew the name Doma. Once before he had passed through Doma's territory while hunting the psychotic demon, Pegasus. A strange magical energy encased the area making Yami jittery and Seto more moody then normal. The demon hunter hadn't noticed a thing, insisting that its ruler, Dartz, was a righteous man who was helpful in the fight against demons; it was only through Yami's begging that they moved on quickly through the area.

Yami tried darting off but in his human form he was no match for the three larger men. He didn't even get a foot away before feeling Varon and Amelda grabbing his arms. He certainly felt but didn't see the blow Raphael delivered to the back of his head. Once again Yami fell unconscious, slumping into Varon's arms as the brunet easily held up Yami's small form.

* * *

**A/N -** And yet another chapter where Malik shoved his way into the story when he was not supposed to be there, lol. Thanks for the editing job Dukie.


	4. Lord Dartz

**A/N - **I'm slowly getting back on track from getting far away from updating due to the KnY RR and the Halloween Fic...

_

* * *

_

_"I'm sorry. I was a jerk for running away…I love you."_

_"I love you too," Yami whispered, while burying his face into Seto's chest as the hugged. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you earlier."_

_"It's okay. We're together now. We'll always be together. I promise, we won't be apart ever again."_

_"I'll make sure you keep that promise."_

_Lifting his head, Yami brought their lips together for a sweet kiss. The cat demon knew that his life was now complete; they would return to Chale Jao and live out a peaceful life with nor more worries about death._

_It would be a good life._

"Wake up!" a harsh voice commanded and cold water splashed against Yami's face. The cat demon blinked open his crimson eyes and stared up at the three strange men hovering over him; directly above him was the brunet, to his right the redhead and to his left the blond.

Yami groaned when he remembered his current situation.

"Good. He's still alive," the same voice said but this time Yami saw that it was the brunet, Varon, who was talking.

"That's a relief," the redhead, Amelda, replied. "Lord Dartz would not be pleased if we accidentally killed him."

"He's not worth being in the collection if he had died that easily," Raphael told them, shutting both up. Whether they liked it or not, Dartz had put the big blond man in charge.

Yami struggled to move but found his arms and legs tied together with a thick rope. Darting his head around he saw that he was no longer in the forest but in a grassy valley with the hot sun beating down upon his worn and tired body as he helplessly laid on his back.

"What's going on here? Let me go!"

"We can't do that," Raphael replied with a shake of his head. "Our lord will be displeased with us if we allow you to get away."

Yami was tempted to transform and try to escape but with the three men so close they could easily reach out and grab him before he would get away. Therefore he was stuck for the time being until they let down their guard.

"What does Dartz want with me?" Yami demanded to know as he glared at the Three Swordsmen with dangerous eyes. Although he was tied up and at their mercy, he would not be intimidated by them.

"You'll find out when we get there," Varon taunted as he stroked Yami's cheek with the back of his hand. Yami flinched and snarled at the touch.

"He's a feisty one," Amelda said while Varon laughed.

"Just the way I like them!"

"Leave him alone," Raphael ordered. Extending his arm across their chests, he pushed the other two back slightly and blocked them from further touching the cat demon. "Lord Dartz does not want damaged goods."

"All right, All right," Varon replied as both he and Amelda backed away.

For a brief moment, Yami felt gratitude towards the muscular blond but the feeling quickly vanished.

"I'm sorry but there is no other way to do it," the big man said as he closed his fist and punched the side of Yami's head.

Quickly the cat demon blacked out, wondering what was in store for him.

**

* * *

**

Seto growled in frustration as another feeling of dread washed over him. By now, he had grown used to having random feelings that Yami was in trouble but had yet to figure out how to ignore the feelings.

He tried his best to ignore them, but they were becoming more frequent and annoying since the night he spoke with Malik, two days ago. Malik was wrong. Yami was fine and wouldn't die.

"More rum?" the barmaid asked, a brunette girl who went by the name Anzu. Seto slowly nodded his head, not looking up at her as the girl refilled his mug. "You might want to ease up a little. You've been drinking pretty heavily since you got here a few hours ago."

"Leave me alone," Seto grunted. "I know how long I've been here."

Normally Seto wasn't a heavy drinker; even when Mokuba was killed he was too determined to get revenge to turn to liquor, but the alcohol numbed his body and gave him something other to think about besides Yami.

With a roll of her eyes the barmaid walked away to deal with another customer, leaving Seto to once again be alone in his self-pity.

**

* * *

**

Yami didn't know how long he had been out when he came to again. It could have been hours or days as far as he knew. All he knew was when his crimson eyes blinked open he found himself with his hands and legs attached to a long log as he dangled below; the log was carried by Amelda and Varon who each held up an end as they marched through the forest.

"Where are you taking me?" Yami asked groggily. His head was pounding and he clenched his eyes shut as he tried to ease the pain.

"To Lord Dartz," Raphael replied from where he was walking next to Yami's dangling body.

"Why?"

"Are you going to ask these questions each time you wake up?" Amelda complained. "If so, I say we keep you out until we get there."

"Lord Dartz will explain everything when we get there," Raphael replied ignoring Amelda's comment.

Focusing, Yami opened his eyes so he could look at the big blond man. "Let me go or you'll live to regret it. Demons are not something you want to mess with."

"Ha! Lord Dartz has more powers than you can even imagine!" Varon taunted from where he walked in the lead. "Don't you know? Our lord is a powerful wizard who can tame the wildest demon with his powers!"

"That's enough!" Raphael ordered, while panic began filling Yami's body. Wizards were rare in the world and Yami had never met one before but it was said that they have enormous powers from the magic they possessed. "Lord Dartz insisted that he wanted to be the one to inform the demon what was in store for him."

"Seto will rescue me," the cat demon bravely growled.

"Not likely," Amelda scoffed. "We already know he wants nothing to do with you anymore. Together you two are almost invincible and thus our lord was most pleased to hear that you and the demon hunter had a falling out. There's no one who would want to save you."

**

* * *

**

Stars twinkled overhead and the moon cast its glow down upon the quiet village. Malik sighed from where he sat upon the damp grass as he glazed up at the peaceful night sky. He wished Bakura was there with him but he had lost track of the fire demon three days ago. It was frustrating though; there was only one month and fourteen days left until the mating period would end and Bakura made it quite clear he wanted nothing to do with the sexy blond.

"You'll catch cold if you sit out without a fire."

Malik turned his head slightly to uncaringly stare at Bakura who was strolling towards him. A few days ago Malik would have hopped up and run over to either hug him or kill him but now the blond didn't care. Instead he turned his attention back to the night sky and began ignoring the fire demon.

With a grunt, Bakura sat down next to Malik and created a fire in front of them. "Look, I'm sorry. I thought you were still on my trail. I didn't mean for you to get lost."

A frown appeared on Malik's pretty face as he turned to look at the white haired creature. "What are you talking about?"

"The game we were playing. Me trying to score with other guys while you tried catching me."

"Game?" Malik asked in disbelief. "That was all a game to you?"

"Yes."

"You seriously weren't interested in those other guys?"

"Yes!"

"You Ass!" Malik cried, lunging at the fire demon, trying to strangle his sometime lover. "You put me through all that crap for nothing!"

"Admit it, you liked the hunt," Bakura calmly replied as he dodged Malik's attack and pulled the blond into his lap. Creating a ring of fire around them, Bakura made sure that Malik wouldn't be able to escape.

"I still say you're an Ass," Malik grumbled as he buried his head under Bakura's chin. "Nice way to make me fall in love with you."

"You were already in love with me; I don't want our relationship to get boring."

"Maybe I don't want you anymore."

"You don't get a choice," Bakura growled as he raised Malik's head and pressed their lips together for a kiss.

**

* * *

**

Yami knew as soon as they entered Doma territory; there was an evil feeling over the land that he just couldn't describe. It was the same feeling he felt his one and only other time passing through the area.

Helplessly Yami was carried through the Doma forest towards the massive castle where he knew Dartz lived. In no time at all they reached the castle and soon Yami was being carried into Dartz's throne room.

"Please put him down," a heavenly voice commanded and Yami's back came in contact with the marble ground as he was cut free of the log. Sitting up, Yami rubbed at his sore wrists and ankles as he stared at the man standing in front of him who had long aqua colored hair, mismatched eyes and wore white pants and tunic.

"So you're Dartz," Yami stated, vowing not to be intimidated by the wizard.

"That is correct Cat Demon Atemu," the aqua-haired man replied. "Technically it's Lord Dartz but I'll let you by with the error for now since you're a guest in my home."

"I don't want to be a guest here."

"Oh dear, I hope my men haven't harmed you in any way." A green eye and amber eye turned towards the Three Swordsmen. "You three are dismissed since I'm sure you're tired from your journey."

The three men bowed and left the room, leaving the throne room empty save for the cat demon and the wizard.

"What do you want with me?"

"You're such a beautiful specimen," Dartz murmured, ignoring the question. Reaching out a hand he felt Yami's soft spikes. "Yes…definitely…you're the right addition to my collection…"

Disgusted by the touch, Yami quickly transformed into a leopard with a furious growl; the bell around his neck jingled as he swiped at Dartz with a front paw. Unfortunately the wizard quickly dodged the attack.

Climbing to his feet, Yami lunged again at the aqua-haired man, not realizing that the man was busy chanting a spell. Before he could even reach Dartz, the cat demon found himself unable to move.

_'What?'_ he wondered as he tried moving again but found his body frozen in one spot. Rapidly he began panicking.

"That's it! Be a good boy!" the wizard taunted as he walked over and patted Yami on the head. "You got all worked up before I even had a chance to explain why you are here. Fortunately I'm a very generous person and will tell you anyway."

_'Get away from me you Bastard!' _Yami angrily thought. In a desperate attempt to try and get away from the nasty touch of Dartz's hand, the cat demon attempted to jerk it away but found he couldn't even do that.

"I'm a collector; a demon collector," the aqua-haired man explained. "Normal animals and slaves are simply too boring for me. But with demons to fill the roles of pets and servants it becomes much more fun to see if I can keep everyone under my control."

_Seto! _Yami attempted to call out but he had no clue if the demon hunter had heard him or not.

"Because of your exotic looks, I had planned on keeping you in your human form and using you as a slave. I host numerous parties for lords and ladies of neighboring regions all who would love to marvel at your beauty. However you've now transformed and despite my vast powers I cannot force you to change back and I doubt if you'll be so willing to change if I unfreeze you. Alas that means you must remain my pet, which will still impress the right people."

_Seto!_

"You won't be needing this stupid thing anymore." Reaching out with a hand, Dartz ripped off the red ribbon that had been tied around the cat demon's neck and threw it against a far wall where the bell rang as it fell helplessly to the ground. A heavy thick collar, which glowed a shade of aqua-green, was placed around his neck by the wizard and Yami suddenly found himself free.

Yami quickly darted away from Dartz and attempted to transform; he now knew he couldn't fight the wizard but he could still turn into a cat and escape the castle. Unfortunately for Yami he quickly discovered that he was unable to change his shape.

"That collar keeps you from using your powers," Dartz explained with a laugh. "Only I can remove it and that won't be happening any time soon."

Walking over to Yami, Dartz petted his head again. "The collar also makes you obey my every command as I'm sure right now you're thinking about ripping me to pieces yet are finding you cannot."

A low grumble escaped Yami's throat. Dartz was right, he _was_ thinking about killing the wizard.

"My pet," Dartz quietly murmured.

_Seto! _Yami frantically hollered out with his mind once again.

**

* * *

**

_Seto!_

Rolling over in his sleep, finally getting some rest in a village he stopped in for the night, Seto completely ignored the voice calling out to him, thinking that it was nothing more than a dream.


	5. Dartz's New Pet

Yami quickly realized he was in his own personal hell.

After Dartz was finished admiring his new pet, Raphael of the Three Swordsmen reentered the throne room, attached a leash onto the collar and led the leopard away. As they walked down the long, cold hall, Yami attempted to will himself to attack the servant but due to the collar he found himself having to obey every command given.

"Rebellion is not an option here," the big blond man told him, leading Yami into a room filled with large cages. In each cage was some kind of exotic animal and Yami knew that they were also imprisoned demons.

Yami wanted to yell and run away as Raphael placed him in an empty cage, but all he could do was quietly grumble and follow the commands given. "Good boy."

Once Raphael had left, Yami settled down and fell asleep, exhausted from that day's events.

**

* * *

**

Throwing his head back, Malik came, shooting his sticky release between their bodies.

As the headboard banged against the wall one last time, Bakura came as well, filling Malik. Pulling out of the blond, Bakura flopped down next to Malik and allowed the human to cuddle next to him.

"We should start heading back home soon," Malik lazily said as he drew a finger along Bakura's chest.

"Do we have to?" the fire demon complained. Heading home meant spending time with his parents, who he knew would gush silly over their announcement. "Why can't we just stay here for as long as possible?"

'Here' was currently the inn at a small town they had forgotten the name of. It was peaceful and quiet; plus the old lady who ran the inn was half deaf and could never hear their wild activities.

"Don't you want to see Ryou?" Malik pressed, knowing that Bakura's younger brother was one of the few people the fire demon cared about. "I'm sure he misses you."

"Give me a week. Then we'll set out for home."

"I love you Kura!" Malik squealed as he tightly hugged his demonic lover.

Inwardly Bakura groaned, wondering how he had become whipped so fast. All thoughts of being whipped however vanished from the fire demon's mind when Malik rolled on top of him and ground downwards.

"Ready for Round Two?"

"Definitely."

**

* * *

**

Time was slow and agonizing for Yami.

Most of the time he was locked in his cage, except for once a day when one of the Three Swordsmen would take him for a walk. Raphael was the nicest to him, speaking to him as if he was in his human form; Amelda ignored him and Varon would constantly tease him.

During his vast free time, Yami would plot, trying to figure out a way out to escape, but thus far he was having no luck. The collar was keeping him dormant and thoughts of food and walks muddled his thinking process.

There was however one bright spot in Yami's life; a friendly lemur lived in the cage next to him and would often playfully reach through the bars to snatch some food. At first Yami's animal instinct was angered by this action but his human side was able to break through and not attack the small gray primate. After a few days Yami was beginning to think of the lemur as a friend and was grateful for his companionship.

'_He has violet eyes,'_ Yami thought one day while watching his new friend. The odd colored eyes and the familiar glowing collar around his neck were the only things that gave the lemur away as being a demon. As the days went by, Yami learned the lemur's name was Yugi.

Silently Amelda opened the cage and attached a leash to Yami's collar. Obediently Yami followed Amelda for his daily walk. The cat demon was growing restless from being cooped up all the time and was soon going to do something about it.

Seeing that Amelda was bored and distracted, which was typical during the walks, Yami knew that it would be the best time to make his move if he could only figure out what to do. The annoying collar however kept him from disobeying orders and that was a big problem.

It then occurred to Yami that he received no commands when Amelda had retrieved him from the cage; that he had simply followed along because he had grown accustomed to the daily regime.

Yami eyed a corridor coming up to his left. He didn't know where the passageway led but he knew he had to get away from Amelda quickly if he wanted to make a move to escape.

Making sure to fall behind the redhead, Yami stared at the human's back; it was time to make his move.

Gripping the leash in his mouth, Yami tugged on it, jumping backwards in the process. The unaware redhead tumbled to the ground, the back of his head hitting the floor and causing the leash to slip from his hands.

Free, Yami began bounding down the other corridor, the leash helplessly flying behind him; he still couldn't use his powers due to the collar but if he could get away from the castle he would be able to find help to break the magic and get the annoying thing off.

Turning his head to look behind him, Yami made sure that Amelda wasn't following him. He was pretty sure that the redhead had hit his head hard enough to stun him for a few minutes but he wouldn't feel safe until he was far away from Doma territory.

Yami rounded a corner, running as fast as he could on his four legs. He had no clue where he was going but as long as it was away from that horrible room where his cage was located he'd be happy; silently he vowed to return to rescue the lemur and the other demons trapped there as soon as he got free.

Then it happened. As he rounded another corner it suddenly felt like a thousand needles were piercing Yami's body. Crying out, the cat demon stumbled to the ground.

'_Get up!'_ his mind screamed and he struggled to his feet as another wave of pain over came his body.

Attempting to fight through the pain, Yami began to take a few more steps before he collapsed to the ground once again.

"Such a disobedient pet," a familiar voice murmured in amusement. Pain erupted once more as Yami moved his head to find the imposing figure of Dartz looming over him. "You're supposed to be behaving. But at the same time it's almost cute how you managed to outsmart one of my men."

"Varon is taking Amelda to the infirmity," spoke up another voice and Raphael appeared in Yami's field of vision.

"Good; take this one back to his cage. It looks like I'm going to have to boost the magical defense around this palace in case one of my pets manages to break free again."

"Shouldn't someone see to him?" Raphael asked and Yami was grateful for him. The pain wasn't subsiding and his body continued to ache. The pain was so unbearable that even he, a demon, couldn't stand it.

"Fine; send one of the slaves," Dartz replied with a wave of his hand as he strolled off.

Picking up the leash, Raphael gave it a tug, forcing Yami up to his feet. He then began leading the leopard away and each step Yami took felt like daggers were jutting up through his paws.

"It won't hurt once Lord Dartz's powers wear off," the big blond man explained. "The faster you get back in your cage the faster you can start resting."

After what seemed like hours, Raphael and Yami finally reached the cage room and Yami couldn't have been happier. His body was on fire and all he wanted to do was collapse in the cage and fall asleep.

Locking the door of the cage, Raphael stared down at where the black leopard was lying. "Someone will be along shortly to look after you." The blond then left to carry on with his duties.

In the cage next to Yami, the lemur, Yugi, made some mournful noises and attempted to pet the silky black fur through the bars of their cages. As Yami dozed in and out of sleep, he couldn't help but thinking it felt nice knowing that someone cared for him.

After some time the door to the room opened and Yami knew without looking that the person who was supposed to take care of him had arrived.

Keeping his eyes closed, Yami lay still. Although he was in pain it did not mean he was going to abandon his plans of escaping. He would attack the unaware healer and make another break for it.

"Atemu?"

Yami's eyes shot open at the sound of his name and he lifted his head. '_No…'_

Ryou was kneeling at the entrance of the cage with a familiar collar around his neck.

Crawling painfully forward, Yami nudged Ryou's chest with his head, letting the wind demon know it was indeed him. Gently Ryou began petting the soft fur as he began to talk.

"Oh Atemu…Dartz got you too," he mournfully said beginning his tale. "I was out seeing the world for my first time when I got caught in a storm not far from here. I made the mistake of using my powers and was spotted by that brute Varon. I've been here ever since as one of Dartz's slaves."

Yami gave rumbled purr as Ryou continued petting him in an attempt to tell him that everything would be okay. The cat demon was now more determined then ever to get out the horrible place.

**

* * *

**

Yami had thought things couldn't get worse for him but he was wrong.

In the days following his escape attempt Varon and Raphael would beat him regularly from orders coming down from Dartz. A few days went by and Amelda was able to join them; the redhead was more willing to get revenge for the escape incident.

After each beating Ryou was sent to make sure Yami would live and he would end up spending as long as possible gently petting the leopard's head. Sometimes Ryou would unlock Yugi's cage and allow the lemur to visit with them.

Yami liked that. It was comforting knowing that both Ryou and Yugi cared about him as he could feel his strength leaving his body and didn't know how much longer he could last.

**

* * *

**

"Bakura my hair is going to get wet!"

Bakura rolled his eyes at Malik's complaint. Above them in black the sky thunder crackled as a sign of the oncoming storm and soon they would be stuck with lightning and water all around them.

"The faster we move the faster we can get away from this weather."

"Why can't we stop at a village for the night?"

"Because there is none around here!" Bakura snapped in reply. It had been thousands of years since he had to travel somewhere by walking and he wasn't liking it one bit. "Besides I don't like the feel of these woods…"

"Pleaseeeee! We can stay at that castle over there."

Bakura's eyes trailed to massive dark castle where Malik was pointing. He definitely didn't like the feel of that place but Malik's pleading eyes were too much for him to ignore.

"Alright, alright; come on!"

"Thank you!" Malik cried as he hugged the fire demon.

'_No more being whipped!'_ Bakura scolded himself with disgust as they began walking towards the castle. The feeling of dread grew as they got closer to it but Bakura shoved the feeling away. After all they only had to spend one night there; that wouldn't kill them.

**

* * *

**

Raphael watched as the aqua-haired lord finished chanting a spell in a foreign language. Patiently the blond man waited until the wizard was completed.

"What is it Raphael?" Dartz asked upon finishing his chanting. Turning around the aqua-haired man looked at his faithful servant with his mismatched eyes.

"Two men are at the gates. They are seeking a place to ride out the storm that will be hitting soon."

"Feed and show them to some empty rooms. Lock them in to make sure they don't go wandering around. We are to be a normal castle for the rest of the night."

"Yes my lord."

**

* * *

**

"See! I was right!" Malik bragged as he lay down on the posh bed in the room they were given. He was tired from the big meal they just ate and was glad to have some comforts again; Malik was beginning to get annoyed with all the traveling he had been doing recently.

Bakura remained quiet as he stared out the window at the falling rain. He was certain something wasn't right about the place and knew they had been locked in their room, despite the fact that Malik hadn't noticed.

Blowing out the candles, Bakura joined Malik on the bed. "Get some sleep," he commanded, wrapping an arm around the blonde's body.

The fire demon watched as Malik drifted off to sleep. Hours ticked by as he kept guard until he was satisfied that everyone in the castle was also asleep.

Foregoing the door, Bakura used his fire morphing technique to get to the other side. Seeing that the way was clear he began his investigation of the place.

The fire demon's travels took him down various corridors but he found nothing of interest until he reached a pair of thick, tall doors. Curiosity getting the better of him, Bakura morphed to the other side of the doors and found himself in a long, empty throne room.

Bakura lit a fire in the palm of his hand and began looking around the room. At first he saw nothing and was about to leave when out of the corner of his eye he spotted a glint of gold lying against a wall.

Walking over, the fire demon picked up the small object and was surprise to see that it was a familiar gold bell attached to a red ribbon.

'_Kitten?' _he wondered.

Unwanted concern became planted in Bakura's mind. He knew without doubt that the bell belonged to his rival but the ribbon looked as if someone had ripped it off. Although he hated Yami, Bakura knew that the cat demon wasn't stupid enough to not realize the dangerous feeling around the place.

Morphing out of the throne room, Bakura continued his search. He could sense that there was something hidden in the castle that he was supposed to find.

Heading up a flight of stairs, Bakura found himself drawn towards a closed door. Finding the door locked, Bakura once again morphed inside the room on the other side; to his horror he found cages and cages filled with animals, all wearing a strange collar around their necks.

"Kitten?" he whispered seeing the prone body of a black leopard in one cage. Rushing over to the cage, he picked the lock and reached inside to touch the still body. To his relief the leopard was breathing but unconscious but there was no doubt in his mind over the identity of the leopard. After growing up with his ex-friend, Bakura would have been able to recognize the cat demon anywhere.

Bakura silently swore as he wondered what to do. He could take Yami with him now but that could be difficult without getting caught. He still had Malik to think about too, who was still locked away in the guest room.

"I'll be back," he vowed as he crawled out of the cage and relocked it. He would leave Yami there for now while he investigated the rest of the castle and decided what he would do.

Morphing back into the hall, Bakura walked on until he found himself being drawn towards another door. Reaching out with a hand he attempted to touch the door but small green sparks shot out from the wooden door when his palm came close to it.

"Shit," he swore as he inspected where the sparks had touched it. Fortunately he didn't seem hurt.

"Bakura?" a soft voice whispered and the fire demon's eyes widened in surprise; he had to bite his tongue from crying out his younger brother's name.

"Ryou. What are you doing here?" he finally managed to whisper.

"Bakura you have to get out of here! Dartz is a wizard! He makes us wear collars so we can't use our powers! Don't get caught too!"

"I'm not leaving without you!" Bakura insisted. "Now stand back. I'll morph in."

"You can't! There's additional magic around this room since we slaves don't live in non-escapable cages. You won't be able to get in without help!"

"Then I'll find this Dartz and kill him!"

"Please, not by yourself! I don't want you to die!"

Bakura growled, not liking the situation at all. In normal circumstances he would have ignored the warning but he knew this Dartz had to be extremely powerful if he was able to capture so many demons.

"I'll be back," he promised.

"I know you will."

Returning to his room, Bakura stood guard all night in case someone knew he had been sneaking around. When dawn finally came the same blond who had fed and shown them to the room the night before unlocked the door.

"Did you enjoy your sleep?" the large blond man inquired.

"It was great," Malik sleepily yawned. Silently, Bakura stood next to his blond lover and nodded his head, grateful to have Malik there to inadvertently distract the man.

"Would you like some food before you leave?"

"That would be-"

"We must go immediately," Bakura insisted as he clasped Malik's hand. "The storm had already delayed us enough."

"Very well."

The large blond man showed them the exit and Bakura made sure to keep a casual pace as they walked away from the castle. Once they were out of sight, the fire demon began rapidly pulling Malik through the dense forest.

"Ow! What's got into you?" the sexy blond complained. "We could have eaten!"

"Ryou, Kitten and hundreds of other demons are being held captive there!"

"What?"

"You heard me! We have to help them which means getting away from here first!"

Still not really knowing the whole story but trusting Bakura, Malik began hurrying on as well. Ryou and Yami were his friends too and he wanted to help.

Finally during the late after noon they reached the edge of the Doma forest.

"Keep following the path to Chale Jao," Bakura commanded as he finally released his blond lover. "Let them know immediately what is going on."

"What about you?" Malik anxiously asked; worried that Bakura would go back and try and get everyone out by himself.

"I'm going to go get help."

Taking a step backwards, Bakura summoned a ring of fire around himself. He then disappeared before Malik's eyes.

**

* * *

**

On the other side of the world, Seto was busy tracking a demon through a jungle; his bow was drawn as he continued forward, stalking his pray.

Then suddenly out of nowhere a wall of fire sprung up in front of the demon hunter. As the flames began to fade away, Seto recognized the familiar form of the fire demon.

Lowering his bow, the two silently stared at each other, Seto not missing the fire that danced in Bakura's eyes.

The fire demon was angry.


	6. SuperKura and Kaibaman

"What do you want?" Seto finally snarled; he had a feeling that the reason Bakura was there was to talk about Yami.

Silently, Bakura tossed him an item, which the demon hunter easily caught. Staring down at the item, Seto was horrified to recognize it as the bell and ribbon belonging to Yami.

"What did you do to him!" the brunet hunter yelled; quickly he drew his sword and placed the tip of the blade at the fire demon's throat.

"Nothing," Bakura snapped while using his arm to swat away the sword. "But because of you he's now in trouble."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Oh please," the fire demon said with a roll of his eyes. "I know what happened between the two of you. You got a stick up your ass once you found out that Kitten loves you."

"I did not!"

"You're such a hypocrite; you have sex with Kitten and then refuse to love him."

Again the two men silently glared at each other. After a few minutes of failed attempts to calm himself Seto decided to start talking again anyway.

"What happened to Yami?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"Dartz happened to him."

Seto cocked his head, confused. "Lord Dartz of Doma?"

"That's the one. He's a wizard who has a fetish of collecting demons. Kitten is now a part of that collection and is in bad shape."

Seto paled as the fire demon's words sunk in. Bakura was a lot of things but he wouldn't lie about something like that. "Yami…"

"Are you going to help me or not? The bastard also has Ryou and countless other demons and I can't save them by myself."

Seto hung his head; it was all his fault. He had been so mean to Yami and now the cat demon was in trouble. The demon hunter's heart tingled with pain; he never wanted Yami to be hurt and he had to admit that he wasn't nearly as happy traveling alone as he was when Yami was by his side. He missed the cat demon despite everything that had happened. He now realized that Yami couldn't help loving him; the cat demon had no control over his emotions.

"Let's go," Seto said with newfound determination in his eyes. "We have to hurry if we're going to get to Doma quickly."

A smirk crossed Bakura's face, happy that the demon hunter was going to help him. "I have a faster way," he said, throwing his arms around the brunet's body and pulling him close. "Don't move. And you might want to close your eyes…"

Seto barely had time to react before feeling the heat of flames around him. Snapping his eyes shut, he desperately clutched the fire demon. Around them fire roared.

Heat burned around Seto and he didn't dare to open his eyes. He could feel the edges of his clothes singe as flames jumped close to his body.

"Would you relax, it's just a lot of flaming hot fire inches from your body," he heard Bakura say with amusement in his voice.

Seto didn't dare to reply but he silently cursed Bakura in his mind. He was going to kill Bakura once they were out of wherever the hell they were.

"Almost there…"

The roaring sound of the fire quickly vanished and Seto found himself being thrown backwards, hitting the ground with a hard thud; fortunately none of his clothes were on fire.

Snapping open his eyes, Seto glared at the fire demon who was brushing himself off. "What he hell was that?"

"Don't worry, it wasn't fun for me either." There was a sour look on Bakura's face as he turned around and pointed to the castle that could barely be made out in the night sky. "But we're here and that's where we need to go."

Seto stood and looked at the castle. "Let's go. Night is the best time to attack."

"Hey! I'm the one in charge here!" Bakura protested as he swung back around and glared at the demon hunter. "It's my brother in there! I make the decisions!"

Seto glared back. "With Yami's life on the line, I'm in charge!"

"His life is on the line because of you!"

"Don't act like you didn't have a hand in it!"

The fire demon and demon hunter continued to glare at each other, each not wanting to give in. Finally Seto decided to break the silence.

"I'm not agreeing to you be in charge but what do you suggest we do?"

"Raid the castle now because it's dark out."

Seto fumed. "That's what I said!"

"Yes, but you're not the one in charge."

Seto glared at Bakura again but decided to ignore the comment. "Let's just go."

The duo began walking towards the black castle, both shooting scowls at each other every so often. It was obvious neither was happy working together but also in the back of Seto's mind, he couldn't help but worry about Yami.

"Any ideas on how to get in this place?" Bakura asked, breaking the silence.

"Can you morph inside?"

A smirk crossed Bakura's face. "Of course."

"Good. Get in and unlock the door for me."

"As you wish," Bakura replied with mock amusement in his voice.

Coming to a stop in front of twin massive wooden doors, Seto waited impatiently as he watched the fire demon disappear into fiery flames. A few minutes later he heard a creaking sound and the large doors swung open.

"Did anyone see you?"

"Hmph," came the reply as Bakura pointed to two guards lying unconscious on the floor. "Nothing I couldn't handle."

Rapidly the two re-closed the doors and dragged the two guards to an empty storage room where they locked the two men inside so that it would take some time before anyone spotted them.

"Ryou's this way," Bakura said and he started walking down the hall. Seto however had other plans and grabbed the back of his shirt.

"Yami first!"

"I told you, I was in charge!" Bakura hissed, darkly looking at the demon hunter. "Ryou first."

"I don't trust you to help me once your brother is free."

Bakura growled, not liking the situation. He however knew that he needed Seto to break into the room where Ryou was being held. "Fine."

Reluctantly Bakura led Seto through the winding corridors and staircases until he reached the door where the demons were being kept in cages. The castle was eerily quiet, which kept both the demon hunter and the fire demon on cautious guard.

"This is it," Bakura murmured to Seto, stopping in front of a closed door. "Let's hurry quickly so we can get to Ryou."

Seto nodded his head, wanting, needing to see Yami again. His heart pounded thinking about the condition that the cat demon lay in on the other side of the door. With a tentative hand, he reached towards the handle, ready to swing open the door and save his partner.

"Well…well…well…what do we have here?"

Hearing the new voice, the duo swung around to find a man with spiky brown hair strolling towards them with a smirk upon his face. "Little rats scurrying around the castle, getting into places they shouldn't."

"And you are?" Seto challenged, unafraid of the new arrival. Bakura just plainly looked bored.

"Varon."

The spiky-haired man was unarmed but Seto knew that didn't mean he could take the man lightly. From the way he carried his body, Seto could tell that Varon was a skilled fighter.

"We have reason to believe that demons are being held in this castle."

"Is that so?" Varon was looking at them with an amused look.

"I'm a hunter."

"Ahh…so _you're_ the legendary demon hunter. I assure you that the lord of this realm is big fan of yours and applauds your work in wiping out demons."

"This is boring," Bakura grumbled to Seto. "We're wasting time while this pathetic fool tries and stall us."

"And you are…?" Varon asked, turning his attention to the white haired demon.

"Your worst nightmare."

A frustrated Bakura formed a fireball in the palm of his hand and threw it at Varon who quickly dodged it. The fireball however had been a distraction and with a snap of his fingers Bakura created a cage of fire upon Varon's head which fell down, surrounding him.

"Let's hurry up," Bakura complained ad he turned back towards the door. Bakura would have liked to have killed the person called Varon but he knew that the demon hunter would be most displeased if he did that. "That cage will hold him."

Seto tried the door only to discover that it was locked. Again Bakura morphed to the other side and unlocked it for him. Hurrying into the room, Seto froze in his tracks when he saw the limp form of the black leopard, lying in a cage in the middle of the room.

"Yami!" he cried rushing over to the cage, while Bakura began melting the locks on the other cages. He finally came over and melted the lock on Yami's cage so Seto could crawl inside and pet his head.

"What is this thing?" Seto asked, fingering the collar around Yami's neck.

"It blocks their powers," Bakura hastily explained as he began working on the cage next to Yami's that housed a lemur. "All the demons here wear it."

"How do we get it off?"

"Dartz."

Seto frowned as he took a closer look at Yami's collar; it didn't glow as brightly as the others. Pulling out the red ribbon with bell attached that Bakura had given him, Seto retied it around Yami's neck.

Crawling back out of the cage, Seto lifted Yami's prone body up and cradled the black leopard in his arm. The lemur jumped up onto his shoulder and made a mournful nose as it stared down at Yami.

Bakura finished opening the rest of the cages. "All right you guys," he announced. "Scatter and escape from this place while we go rescue the human demon slaves and get Dartz to remove these collars. You're on your own from now on so don't get caught."

The animals, of all shapes and sizes, hurried from the room with Bakura and Seto, who still carried Yami and had the lemur on his shoulder, following them. As they passed Varon, the spiky-haired brunet began yelling insults at them and orders for the demons to stop.

Irritated, Seto handed Yami to Bakura before marching over to the cage and stopping right in front of it, glaring at Varon.

"Bakura."

In a flash the fire cage was gone and before Varon knew what was happening, Seto punched him in the face.

Unconscious, Varon fell to the floor and Bakura quickly brought back the cage as he handed Yami back to the demon hunter. "Nice move."

"He deserved it."

Free from Varon's control, the other demons scurried off in every direction they could find while Bakura began leading Seto to where Ryou and the rest of the demons were being held captive.

Hurrying down the corridors, the demon hunter and fire demon skidded to a stop when they rounded a corner and found two men waiting for them. Bakura recognized one of the men as the blond from the day before when he was there with Malik.

"Do you know another way?" Bakura asked the lemur, looking at the primate clinging to Seto's shoulder. The small head bobbed up and down. "Good. Take the Hunter there. I'll handle these two."

"What?" Seto protested as the lemur jumped off his shoulder and began running down a corridor that branched to the left. "What about Ryou?"

"Only a human can get beyond the magic protecting the room he's in," Bakura replied with annoyance in his voice. "It won't take me long to get rid of these two anyway."

Seto nodded his head and took off after the lemur. He couldn't help but notice that the glowing collar around Yami's neck faded some more.

With Seto gone, Bakura turned his full attention to the blond and the redhead who were strolling casually towards him. The blond was holding up a large axe with his two hands while the redhead had a dagger in each of his. "Child's play," Bakura muttered with a smirk upon his face.

The two continued to walk slowly to Bakura. The fire demon however was getting impatient and wanted to hurry things along. Raising the palm of his right hand towards them, a pillar of fire shot out and the two men had to jump to the side, pressing themselves tight up against the wall to avoid the blaze.

Calling the fire off, a grin crossed Bakura's face as they began charging at him. It was always more fun when pathetic humans tried to put up a fight.

Fireballs were thrown at the two men, barely dodging them as they continued to run forward. The blond reached Bakura first and swung his heavy axe but the fire demon quickly jumped backwards so that the blade easily missed him.

Swinging up his left hand, which he had been keeping by his side, Bakura threw another fireball at the blond, singing him on his bare arm. At the same time, Bakura crossed his right arm over his left and shot five quick balls at the redhead who was still trying to advance.

Deciding to end things, Bakura created a huge wall of fire that separated himself from the two men. For what they did to his brother, Bakura hoped that they had crashed into it.

Suddenly Bakura sensed a presence behind him. Swinging around he had no time to react as something snapped around his neck.

Slumping to the ground, the wall of fire vanished and Bakura soon found himself staring up at three dangerous men.

* * *

**A/N - **One more chap to go. As always thanks goes to Dukie for editing. 


	7. End

Seto hurried behind the lemur as the furry primate raced down corridors. Suddenly the small creature stopped and began hopping around in front of a closed door.

Gently laying Yami on the ground, Seto reached out and placed a hand on the door. The door shimmered green but it did not harm him. Moving his hand to the door handle, Seto was surprised to find that the door was not locked. Slowly the door creaked opened and Seto stuck his head inside.

"Ryou?"

A dozen demons were scattered around the room, sitting on cushy pillows. All had a collar around their necks and all looked up at the demon hunter in surprise as he entered the room. To Seto's horror there were even a few children in the group.

"Seto!" Jumping to his feet, Ryou flung his arms around the brunet's neck. "Where's my brother?"

"We ran into trouble and got separated," Seto quickly replied before turning his attention to the group of demons, all who were getting to their feet. "Get out of here; run in any direction you can. I'm going after Dartz and once he's defeated your collars will fall off. You'll be free after that."

"But you're the famous hunter," a small girl whispered who stood at Seto's feet and looked up at his tall form. "Why are you helping us?"

Seto remained quiet for a few minutes as he stared down at her trying to think of an answer; she had big green eyes and Seto wondered how she got in her current situation. "…Because no one deserves this…"

Swiftly turning in his heel, Seto exited the room and picked Yami up once again. Around him the demons began hurrying off, their only desire to get away from the horrid room where they had been kept captive.

"I'm coming with you!"

Turning his head, Seto found Ryou standing behind him with the lemur clutched in his arms. "Very well."

Ryou instantly brightened and for a moment Seto feared he would be hugged again but fortunately the primate in Ryou's arms kept the wind demon from doing that once more.

"Do you know him?" Seto asked, nodding his head towards the lemur, who looked quite happy to be with Ryou.

"No, he just kinda hopped up and expected me to carry him," Ryou replied with a small smile on his face as he looked down at the small furry creature.

"Whatever; let's get going."

Ryou led the way as they hurried towards Dartz's throne room. Yami's collar continued to get dimmer as they ran and Seto knew it needed to come off fast.

"Do you have a plan for when we find Dartz?" Ryou inquired as they hurried down a flight of stairs. "I've seen his powers; he's going to be tough to beat."

"I'll figure something out."

Rounding another corner, Ryou gradually began slowing his pace. "There it is," he whispered, pointing toward two massive doors that were shut tight.

Walking forward, both Ryou and Seto approached the door with caution. Something wasn't right; they should have met up with Bakura by now but the fire demon was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly the large doors swung open by themselves and sick laughter could be heard from inside the hall.

"It's a trap!"

"I know," Seto calmly replied. "But we have no choice."

Shifting Yami so that he could grip the cat demon better, Seto held his head high as he strolled inside of the he throne room with Ryou, who was still carrying the lemur, following close behind.

"Welcome! Welcome!" Seto glared at the man with long aqua hair who stood in the middle of the room with his arms wide open as if he were gracefully welcoming Seto into his home. "It's such an honor to be in the presence of such a famous demon hunter! Is that one of your recent kills?"

"Shut up!" the brunet demon hunter growled. A glance to his left found the three men he and the fire demon had encountered earlier; to his horror, kneeling at their feet was Bakura with a collar around his neck and an angry look in his eyes.

"Bakura!" Ryou cried from behind Seto. The demon hunter knew that Ryou wanted to rush over to his older brother but was afraid of the three men.

"What did you do to Yami!" Seto demanded to know. The cat demon was his primary concern at the moment so Bakura and the other demons were going to have to wait. "Why is his collar getting dimmer?"

"Ah…" Dartz began with a grin upon his face. "…Well you see unfortunately there are only two ways for those little collars to be removed while I live…I remove it or the demon dies. The dim glow indicates that your friend there is dying."

Anger filled Seto as he placed Yami gently on the floor and stepped over the leopard's body. "Then remove it!"

"Umm…no…"

Seto freed his sword from his side. "Remove it."

"Stay where you are," Dartz commanded to his three servants. "He is no match for me."

"Seto!"

Snapping his head back around to look at Ryou, Seto saw that the wind demon was staring at Yami's body. In horror Seto watched as the collar went completely dark before falling free from around the cat demon's neck. The leopard's body then faded away to Yami's human form.

"NO!" Seto yelled as he swung back around and charged at Dartz, hoping to spear him with the tip of his blade. Dartz however easily sidestepped the sword and gave a cruel laugh.

"Looks like it's too late for him."

With one hand, Seto swung his sword as he spun around to face Dartz again but for a second time the aqua-haired man dodged the attack.

"My, my, my, you are a slow one. And to think that you were the one who defeated all those demons; must have been luck."

Seto growled as he swung again and once more received only air as Dartz moved out of the way once more. The wizard's laughter echoed through the throne room, taunting the demon hunter some more, which only made Seto angrier.

"Stop moving and fight me like a man!"

"Such a brute."

A swift kick caught the demon hunter off guard and a second kick sent his sword flying through the air, landing next to Yami's prone body. Seto reached down to his boot to pull out a hidden dagger when he felt a strong invisible grip surround his entire body.

"Now it's my turn to play," Dartz mocked with sick amusement in his voice. Holding his hand out toward Seto he clinched it shut and it felt as if Seto's entire body was being crushed.

"Agh!" he cried out in pain. The pain and Dartz's sick laughter was all that he knew which was why he didn't notice that across the room a pair of crimson eyes snapped open.

"Stupid human!" Dartz spat as he flung Set up against a nearby wall with his invisible hand. "My entire collection has escaped now because of your meddling, but don't worry they'll all be back soon once I send out Raphael, Varon and Amelda."

"Leave them alone!" Seto yelled as he slouched against the wall, holding his left arm against his ribcage. He already knew he had suffered some broken ribs from Dartz's attack but he didn't care. "They've done nothing to you!"

Dartz loomed over Seto with a dangerous look on his face. "I know."

In desperation Seto went for his hidden dagger again but the crushing pain surged through his body once more, but this time more powerfully. The demon hunter was on the verge of blacking out when suddenly the pain stopped. Focusing on Dartz's chest with hazy eyes, Seto was surprised to find his sword sticking through the wizard's body.

The aqua-haired man fell to the ground and Seto was even more surprised to find that Yami had been standing behind Dartz on shaky legs. The cat demon could barely stand but there was a fire in Yami's eyes that Seto had never seen before. Then, as if coming out of a trance, the fire faded and Yami began toppling over into the brunet's arms.

"Seto…" he whispered before dropping unconscious.

"YAMI!"

Seto was barely aware when Bakura, Ryou and the lemur, who was now in his human form, rushed to his side. Their collars all had fallen free when the wizard had died but Bakura was in a foul mood as the Three Swordsmen of Doma had ran off before he could kill them.

"We need to get him home," Ryou quickly explained to Seto, who had his eyes locked on Yami in horror. "He's alive but weak. We have healers there who can help!"

By some miracle, Ryou's words got through to Seto and he nodded his head before standing up with Yami once again in his arms. The small group then quickly made their way outside the castle so that they could begin their journey.

"I'll go ahead and warn them," Bakura grumbled, still in a bad mood over not killing anyone. Flames sprung up around him and when they were gone, Bakura had vanished.

"But how will we get there?" Seto asked Ryou; Yami's condition still greatly concerned him.

"Bakura's not the only one with special traveling powers," the wind demon replied with a smile on his face. "Just hold onto Yami tightly. Yugi, you better grip me tightly," he said turning his attention to the former lemur. Seto had forgotten about Yami's smaller look-a-like and realized that Ryou must have learned his name at some point when they had been escaping.

Closing his eyes, Ryou extended his arms outwards as Yugi latched his arms around the wind demon's waist. Seto impatiently waited in silence as he wondered what was going on. Yami needed help and he needed it fast.

Then it happened. A gentle breeze began blowing through the forest, rustling the leaves in the trees. Gradually the breeze began growing stronger, whipping around the demons and the hunter. With expected concern, Seto began growling in alarm when the wind grew stronger.

"Just relax," Ryou softly commanded. "Watch what I do."

Falling backwards, Ryou allowed the wind to catch him and lift him up high above the trees with Yugi still clinging to him. Staring up at the wind demon, Seto wondered how he was going to mimic the move when he felt the wind sweeping out under his feet, toppling him backwards, and before he knew what was happening he had joined Ryou and Yugi high among the trees.

"Remember…hang on to Yami."

Swiftly the wind began picking up, transporting them all rapidly through the sky. Seto had to admit that it was better traveling that way than Bakura's way but still he couldn't help but feel the knots form in his stomach as they sailed over the treetops.

Finally, to Seto's relief, they began drifting downward and landed safely in the middle of the village of Chale Jao where a small crowd was gathered, waiting for them.

"Atemu!" Yami's father, Elder Akunumkanon, cried, rushing forward. The demon went to make a move to take his son but stopped when Seto snarled and held Yami's body closer against his chest. "…Er…yes…alright then…our Medical Hut is this way. A private room has already been set up for Atemu."

Silently Seto followed Akunumkanon as the Elder led the way; Yami safe in his arms the entire time.

**

* * *

**

"What is wrong with him? Why hasn't he wakened yet?" Seto demanded to know. It had been three days since their arrival to Chale Jao and Yami still remained fast asleep. During that entire time, Seto remained seated by the bedside in case the cat demon woke up.

"His powers have been spent," Akunumkanon softly explained from where he stood in a corner, his eyes trained on his son's body. "I had hoped he would have recovered by now but it appears that won't be the case. He's barely holding on; it's as if one single thread is keeping him from passing from this world to the next."

"How do I help him?"

"I don't think you can."

"Don't tell me what I can and cannot do!"

"My son suffered greatly under Dartz, yet he still managed to summon enough energy to destroy the wizard; even I don't know how he did it. He has become weak however and it appears this is a weakness he will not be able to overcome on his own."

"Then there _is_ a way that I can help him."

"…Yes…but I cannot tell you how. That is something you'll have to figure out for yourself."

Shooting daggers from his eyes, Seto glared at Akunumkanon's back as the Elder left the room. He didn't understand why the demon just couldn't tell him how to help Yami. One would have thought that the Elder would want his son to remain alive but Akunumkanon was acing like he didn't care if his son died or not.

'_Demon…'_ he rudely thought. He would never understand them.

**

* * *

**

The sound of music woke Seto from his peaceful sleep. Raising his head from where it lay next to Yami's body, the demon hunter sat up straight in his chair and turned his head until he realized that the source of the peaceful tune was coming in from the open window.

Staggering to his feet, Seto moved towards the window and looked out it. At the nearby temple fires were lit all around it and that was also the source of the music.

"The mating rituals," Seto quietly murmured to himself. Over the past few weeks the entire village had been abuzz with the upcoming ceremonies and they must be happening that night.

Pulling out a small, flat, white stone, Seto began playing with it in his fingers. The stone he knew was a part of the ritual; it had come from the cave where their goddess had lived when she was a mortal and the mating couple was supposed to travel to the cave and retrieve one of the white stones for their ceremony. Malik had given him the stone when he had returned from his own journey with Bakura. Seto suspected that not even the fire demon knew that the blond had done that.

During the actual ceremony, the human of the pair was to draw a symbol on the rock and then it would be split in two, creating two pendants. Vows would be said as the pair placed the pendants around each others necks and then it was said that their souls would be one, drawing strength on each other whenever they needed it.

'Draw strength when needed…' 

Clasping the small white stone in his hand, Seto hurried over to the desk that was in the room and found some ink and a quill. Placing the stone down on the surface, Seto began thinking, wondering what he should do. Hastily he drew a picture of a cat and above the feline, a sword.

Taking out his dagger, Seto held the stone in place before ramming the blade straight through the center, creating two equal halves. Cutting two leather cords, Seto tied them around each half of the stone and then returned to Yami's side.

"I don't exactly know how this works," Seto began, kneeling next to the bed and holding up one half of the stone. "But I want you to have this." Leaning over Yami's still body, Seto placed the pendant around the cat demon's neck. "I know what this means but I don't care anymore. I just want you awake again."

Placing the other half of the pendant around his own neck, a sudden force of exhaustion came over the demon hunter. Settling himself on the bed next to Yami, slinging an arm protectively across the cat demon's chest, Seto was once again soon fast asleep. It wasn't long after that when both pieces of the stone began to glow.

**

* * *

**

Smoldering warmth woke Yami from his peaceful sleep. Keeping his eyes closed he rolled to his side in an attempt to find a cooler spot. The movement however caused something to knock against his bare chest. Blinking open his eyes, Yami reached a hand up to his chest and was surprised to find he was wearing a pendant in addition to his normal ribbon and bell.

Sitting up, Yami spun around to find Seto lying next to him, still fast asleep.

"Seto!" he cried, shaking the demon hunter awake. His crimson eyes fell to a similar white pendant around Seto's neck and he knew what had happened.

"…Yami…" the demon hunter murmured before snapping his eyes wide open and sitting up. "Yami! You're alive!"

Yami lifted a hand to Seto's check and gently stroked it, all the while staring at the demon hunter with loving eyes. "Only because of you."

"…"

"Why though? You know what this now means."

Reaching up, Seto clasped Yami's hand in his own. "I couldn't let you die."

"But-"

"There are worse things that could have happened to me than being stuck with you for life."

Yami smiled and rested his head against Seto's chest. He could sense that things would be all right from that point on.

**

* * *

**

Hand in hand, Seto and Yami walked around the forest, which surrounded Chale Jao. Walking along the river they found Ryou and Yugi playing in the warm waters.

"They're still like children," Yami commented as the lemur and wind demon giggled and splashed each other with water.

Heading further along, going deeper into the forest, they soon came across Bakura and Malik where Bakura was attempting to teach Malik about his new powers.

"Concentrate on what you want to happen!" the fire demon yelled in frustration. Above Bakura's head a small rain cloud formed and began dumping its water down on the fire demon.

Next to Bakura, Malik stood smirking. "Hey you were right…it _did_ work!"

Seto shook his head as they moved on. '_Morons.'_

'_True…but they are our friends.'_

Seto's head shot sideways to look at Yami. '_You can hear me?'_

'_Yes; it appears our bond is now complete.'_

'_Hn.'_

Yami laughed as he dodged in front of Seto and rose on his tiptoes so their lips could meet in a sweet kiss. '_You can't fool me. I know you like it.'_

They made out for a few minutes before continuing their walk. When they found a small clearing in the woods, they sat down next to each other on a fallen log.

"What happened during the fight against Dartz?" Seto softly asked. It had been a question that had been bothering him since that day. "I was sure you were dead; Dartz said that the only way for the collar to be removed while he was still alive if he did not do it. But then the next thing I know, you're saving me from him…"

"I thought that was a dream," Yami murmured, staring off into the distance. "I remember a bright light and then a voice telling me that it wasn't my time. The next thing I knew I was waking up next to your sword." Yami shook his head. "Let's talk about something else."

"Fair enough. Your…our…abilities are unique aren't they?" Yami nodded. "Why?"

"I do not know yet but I feel there is something special in this world that we must do."

"What though?"

"Who knows…" A smile crossed Yami's lips as he stood and faced Seto. "You saw Malik training earlier and now it's your turn. Time to see what powers you possess."

Seto smirked as he stood as well. He was actually looking forward to his training. After all, Yami had taught him that not all demons were evil and living without Yami was simply not possible.

* * *

**A/N - **Yay! Yay! It's finished! Thanks Dukie for doing all the edit work on this fic, you know I love you. I'm kinda sad to see these characters going but now it means I can work on something else. Besides who knows when they'll show up again...

:p

Thanks for reading everyone!


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